SEPTIC SLIME : ABOMINABLE BRUTALITY
Septic Slime has evokes to me an impression as one of the most difficult card to be used. Septic Sime us a Tanker type card, which means it has strong armor and health attribute. But battle report have shown some flaw which resulting in its quick demise. So we shall take through review on this card.
Pros & Cons
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|---|---|
1. Septic Slime is one of few cards which possessed Stun ability at Level 1. Septic Slime could be a great counter against powerful front-row Tanker (especially those with high armor and damage). | 1. Low speed have become the main adversary of this card. The low speed would interfere with its accuracy which means lower chances to trigger Stun. |
2. Septic Slime has a higher than average health and armor traits compared to other 8 mana Tanker. | 2. Low speed and high mana also pose another weakness. The high mana cost caused Septic Slime more appropriate to be deployed on high mana cap battle. But having low speed with no other defensive ability would turn Septic Slime labile to be brought down before it has chances to act. |
*Reference for Archetype term : Striker --> Superior Damage / Tanker --> Superior Health / Ninja --> Superior Speed / Support --> A Lot Number of Abilities. |
Market Price Analysis
Its good to see the price bounced back to a significant level for the past weeks. The current price for regular foil is at $0.14 to $0.16. Meanwhile gold foil tend to move sideways maintaining price at $1.5 to $1.6. Gold foil price is still at low level compared to its average level which should be around $2.0. In overall the price of this card is still low compared to other Riftwatchers edition cards.
Calculating the total cost to reached max level, the regular foil would cost $64 while gold foil would cost $58.9. Its quite surprising to see gold foil price less than regular foil. But this only applies for the max level only, as comparison for the lower level still show a bit higher cost for the gold foil side. At the end, purchasing the gold foil is great gain, considering so far this is the lowest price gap between regular-gold foil.
Progression Analysis
The first good thing about Septic Slime is that it has almost perfect progression (with only single drawbacks). The progression is less uniform compared to other cards. The first 3 level grant a single growth into health, armor, and damage. At Level 5, it gained another and the last armor growth.
Heal will be added on Level 6 with a health drawback as balancer. This is one of the most important ability for Septic Slime, as explained previously, Septic Slime will act lastly with only 1 speed, and therefor a Heal will relieve its damage for the next round. Level 7 to 9 each provide +1 health. At this level Septic Slime would raise its Heal from 2 health to 3 health. The extra health also provide extra cushioning from Affliction effect to downgrade the Heal effect. The ultimate level seemed to provide the ultimate ability. True Strike is the best ability for Septic Slime, not only for its offensive attack but also to allow more chances to trigger Stun.
Rulesets To Be Watched
| Ruleset | Strategy |
|---|---|
 | This ruleset would mend the accuracy problem of Septic Slime, allow it to be a more effective "Striker". |
 | This ruleset could be an advantage in the sense that ordinarily only 2 (two) melee would be able to strike the front row, which is the front row and the second row (by Reach ability). This ruleset therefore will allow Septic Slime to survive longer round and trigger more Stun. |
 | Under Heavy Hitters ruleset, deploying cards with Stun ability is the key to deal maximum damage; therefore its always an advantage to bring Septic Slime. |
WATCH BATTLE
Here's one of my battle experience with Septic Slime in my formation. Click BATTLE LINK to see how the battle run.
The battle has 46 mana cap, with Lost Legendaries ruleset, and all Splinter faction are opened except for Earth Splinter. For my formation, I used:
| Position | Card Name | Level | Mana | Health | Armor | Speed | Attack Type | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summoner | Tarsa | 4 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1st Row | Septic Slime | 1 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 1 | Melee | 2 |
| 2nd Row | Ferox Defender | 4 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 2 | Melee | 2 |
| 3rd Row | Lava Launcher | 1 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 3 | Ranged | 3 |
| 4th Row | Djinn Inferni | 1 | 7 | 4 | - | 3 | Magic | 3 |
| 5th Row | Uraeus | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | Melee | 2 |
| 6th Row | Ash Mirage | 1 | 7 | 6 | - | 4 | Ranged | 2 |
My opponent formation:
| Position | Card Name | Level | Mana | Health | Armor | Speed | Attack Type | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summoner | Yodin Zaku | 1 | 4 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1st Row | Living Lava | 1 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | Melee | 3 |
| 2nd Row | Tenyii Striker | 2 | 5 | 6 | - | 3 | Melee | 2 |
| 3rd Row | Lava Spider | 2 | 3 | 4 | - | 3 | Ranged | 1 |
| 4th Row | Pyromaniac | 2 | 6 | 5 | - | 4 | Ranged | 2 |
| 5th Row | Ash Mirage | 1 | 7 | 6 | - | 4 | Ranged | 2 |
| 6th Row | Tinderlock | 1 | 10 | 8 | - | 2 | Ranged | 3 |
I decided to deploy a balanced formation consist of melee, ranged, and magic cards. The first two rows are filled with armored Tanker, Septic Slime and Ferox Defender. I always find Ferox best at 2nd row, so it could fill secondary Tanker while keeping it survive several round and maintain the Protect effect. Lava Launcher fill the 3rd row, not only as tertiary Tanker but also as damage dealer. Djinn Inferni follow up to mitigate any armored card. Uraeus shall strike with Sneak attack and finally Ash Mirage as the additional damage dealer.
On the other side, my opponent pick the notorious Yodin Zaku. Its a costly summoner, but also bring the powerful Blast ability buff. The first two rows consist of melee cards. Living Lava is a powerful Tanker for the frontier. Tenyii Striker is a hybrid Striker and Tanker cards, although its better to save it as main damage dealer. The rest of the rows is filled with ranged cards which should benefit from all of Yodin Zaku buff. Unfortunately for them, I bring Ash Mirage which neutralize the ranged damage. Ash Mirage would put some burden to my ranged cards. Meanwhile Tinderlock is a dangerous card if not quickly eliminated.
The battle opened with the volley wars between the swiftest cards. Pyromaniac throw an arrow at my rear row, where the blast chip away some of Uraeus armor. And then both Ash Mirage alternately launched attack to the front row, only for my Ash Mirage to be nullified by Living Lava thick Shield. Lava Spider with its Snipe deliver blow into Lava Launcher which effectively caused blast damage into Ferox Defender and Djinn Inferni. Each of my opponent attack result in peripheral blast damage which chipped away my formation armor. Its lucky I bring Protect to absorb those damage. The final act was a brilliant one, as Septic Slime deal damage into Living Lava and halt its action due to being stunned.
As the battle run into 2nd round, the wave of volley attack from my opponent formation started to chipped the whole armor. Its a great thing to bring Djinn Inferni which quickly penetrates into Living Lava. Finally Lava Launcher deliver the first blood by eliminating Living Lava. Tenyii Striker and Tinderlock send a devastating blow into Septic Slime, leaving it with 2 health remaining. Meanwhile Ferox are now left with 4 health remaining being bombarded by blast damage from both sides. Uraeus deliver the 2nd blow into Tinderlock and its in critical conditions. Septic Slime shows great performance by beating Tenyii Striker 3 speed evasion and deliver 3 damage into it. Unfortunately the Stun did not trigger.
The battle opened with Ash Mirage score a kill into Septic Slime. But Ash Mirage joined with Djinn Inferni make a counterattack to eliminate Tenyii Striker. The bloodbath continue as Ferox Defender brought down by Tinderlock, but Uraeus exact a revenge into Tinderlock. Its now a 4 againts 3.
Round 4 bring a bad news as Pyromaniac defeat Ash Mirage, causing the damage debuff gone. Ash Mirage also bombard Lava Launcher with now 3 damage and causing 2 blast damage into Djinn Inferni, a huge blow to my formation. But Djinn Inferni cast its spell to destroy Lava Spider. With only 2 cards remaining, my opponent now rely solely on its Ash Mirage to deliver the damage. The battle finished with Lava Launcher deal 2 damage into Pyromaniac.
Its now a race against time, as my formation only need to bring down Pyromaniac, before Ash Mirage strike down Lava Launcher. And its only a successive attack that form Djinn Mirage and Lava Launcher to finally bring down Pyromaniac.
With only Ash Mirage remaining, the fate is sealed for my opponent.
CONCLUSION
Did your strategy work? What will you try differently next time?
I though Septic Slime did perform its role although below my expectation. We clearly saw how Septic Slime only survive up to the start of Round 3. Septic Slime only managed to deliver 2 blow, with only 1 blow triggered the Stun. The slow speed and the vulnerability being the front row caused Septic Slime really difficult to deliver its ability maximally.
Do you like SEPTIC SLIME? Why or why not?
I honestly seldomly use Septic Slime because of its slow initiative. But the fact that Septic Slime have better armor and health aspect compared to other Tanker is not a thing to be taken lightly. I suggest to upgrade Septic Slime quickly into Level 5 for those playing in Silver League. Heal would recover 2 health at this point, which should be beneficial for sacrificing the health drawback.
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